110 Film – The Film of Our Childhood

If you were a kid in the 1970s or 1980s, you probably owned a 110 film camera at one point, whether it had Barbie or Star Wars on it. These small cameras appealed to amateur photographers because of their ease of use. Instead of having to load the film yourself, you simply popped the film cartridge in place and started snapping pictures. The resulting images weren't the greatest, but you were just a kid after all, right? While you may have fond memories of your 110 film camera, you may not understand much about how it worked and why this film format has been phased out.

What Is 110 Film?

Kodak was the first to create 110 film, and they did so in response to the success of their 126 cartridge film. The 110 film cartridge houses film that captures a 13 by 17 mm image. The film is covered by a backing paper, has a small notch in the top that allows the camera to advance the frames, and is returned to the photographer without the plastic case.

Drawbacks of 110 Film

While 110 cameras were small and easy to use, the images they created often lacked clarity and quality. There are several reasons for this. First, the 110 negative is much smaller than its competitors, which means the resulting image has to be enlarged significantly, causing it to lose quality.

Another issue with 110 film is the cameras made for it. Most of these are fixed-focus cameras, which mean the resulting image is going to be slightly blurry unless the subject is standing at the exact spot the camera is focused on. Also, most 110 cameras do not read film speed and are set to take low film speeds. When the user pops a 400 speed cartridge into the camera, the resulting images are grossly over-exposed, causing grainy, washed out images.

Finding 110 Film

Today, finding 110 film is becoming more and more difficult. As of 2008, Wal-Mart stores were still selling the Kodak version of the film, but many other manufacturers have stopped making it, focusing instead on digital cameras and APS cartridge film. Those who still photograph 110 film should stock up, because chances are very high that the film will be phased out completely soon. It can be frozen and then used far past its expiration date.

Scanning 110 Film

Most photographers today have moved past the problematic 110 film. However, they may still have negatives stored in the attic that have priceless memories recorded on them. The best thing to do with these negatives is to have them scanned and digitized.

As the film gets phased out, printing it at a photo lab becomes more and more difficult. Not only that, but the small size of these types of negatives makes it much more likely that they will be damaged at some point while they are being stored. Scratches and fingerprints on these tiny negatives make huge blights on future printed photographs, because the images must be enlarged so much when printed. A digital image is the safest way to preserve the memories contained on 110 film negatives. Contact a scanning service today to start scanning those 110 negatives.